Category Archives: Nepal

Pasni party for Chhori

Posted on September 11, 2015 | 3 comments

After the pasni puja was over, the next big day was the party day.

Chhori is so blessed to have so many loved one come to visit her after her birth. So I wanted to invite everyone for the celebration and to share the day with us.

As with other celebrations, I had many ideas that I wanted to execute for her special day.

So I started planning for the big day months in advance. I wanted a big enough venue that served good food and had great ambiance. After a very tiring search, we finally found it.

The next part was to find a good baker to bake a special cake for Chhori and a photographer who could capture the special moments. Once everyone was booked, I started on the entertainment. I wanted to put on a few performances so I asked few of my friends and they agreed to dance and sing on the day. Altogether, there were going to be 5 dances and a song and I was performing a dance with my sister in law as well.

I always liked dancing but I haven’t performed since high school so I was excited and scared at the same time. We practiced for almost a month every other day and though we were not very good in the beginning as the days passed and we practiced more, we got better and better. I was really happy with where we were headed.

In the meantime, we also designed place cards and arranged the table sitting. It took a while but when everything were done, I was super excited for the day.

On the day of party, I went to the beauty parlour to do my hair and makeup. It took almost 2 hours to get ready and I was happy with the result. I had ordered a special lehenga saree and that was what I was wearing. AS was also looking really handsome in his new suit and bow tie.

Chhori pasni (9)

Chhori also had a special dress made for her in a boutique in Nepal by her grand ma which I loved a lot. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

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Once we were all ready, we went to the venue. It was decorated, nicely.

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The cake was also already delivered. We placed all the place cards in the right places and were set for the evening.

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It was early and the photographer was there as well so we spent an hour taking photos before the guests arrived. He took great photos of us as well as with my parents and brother.

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As the guests arrived, the place stared to fill up and food and drinks were served.

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It was so much fun catching up with friends and family after a while. Chhori was an absolute angel and was behaved so well.

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After a while Chhori was bit tired and I let her sleep for a while so she would be fresh and happy for the cake cutting.

As to our schedule, it was time for some entertainment and first up was me and my SIL. I felt nervous like as if it was my first time on the stage but once the music started the fun took over the fear. We both were more relaxed and started our performance.

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Before we knew it, the songs came to an end and I was glad that everyone enjoyed it too. We were showered with applause when we left the stage. I am so glad we captured the performance on video.

After our dance there were more performances that evening by my friends. I am so grateful that I have such a great family and friends who invested their time and energy to make Chhori’s pasni such a memorable evening.

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As I looked around, everyone was enjoying the evening and I could see that the guests were relaxed and mingling well.

While the performance was on, entree was served and after the performance, it was time to cut the cake. Chhori woke up just in time for that.

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The baker did a great job with the cake. It was what I had imagined and looked amazing. I, AS and Chhori cut the cake together. Amazingly, when we gave Chhori a piece of cake, she loved it so much that she started munching on it and we were pleasantly surprised. She loved the sweetness and she looked so cute with cake all over her face.

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After the cake, the dance floor was opened and every one joined us on the dance floor for hours to enjoy the evening. It was so much fun for all of us.

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In the meantime, dinner was served and everyone enjoyed the food and the dance and before I knew it, it was close to midnight and party was coming to an end.

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I am so happy the evening went as we planned and everyone enjoyed it. They told us that they had an amazing time and loved our organized celebration.

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We got some beautiful photos and videos from the day so when Chhori grows up, she too can enjoy watching her Pasni ceremony.

Hope you enjoyed the photos and the post as much as we did the occasion.

Take care everyone,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO

3 Comments

Posted in Being Mum, Celebrations, Nepali Culture, Newari Culture, Our daughter

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Pasni Puja for Chhori

Posted on September 4, 2015 | 8 comments

There are many milestones once you have a child and Pasni is one of those big milestones in Nepalese culture. It was one I and AS, were really looking forward to once we had Chhori.

I read somewhere that you just need to have kids and they will grow up so fast and that seemed to be very true in our case already. Time has flown by and Chhori is already over 5 months and ready for her Pasni ceremony.

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The Pasni ceremony is also known as the rice feeding ceremony or Weaning Ceremony. I tis also called Annaprashan in Sanskrit which literally means grain initiation. It is the first time the baby is fed solid food. In Newari it is called Macha Junko.

AS parents sent us the sait, the auspicious day and time, for the pasni after consulting with an astrologer in Nepal. Once we knew the date, both of us were busy preparing for it for the next few weeks until the ceremony. As we are in Australia, everything needed to be arranged by AS and me and it kept us busy. If we were in Nepal, there would have been other family members who could have lent a hand.

I am just glad that we could buy everything we needed for the ceremony easily in Sydney. We also book the same priest who performed Chhori’s Nwaran.

Finally the big day arrived. I woke up early that morning and got ready in my red dupatta sari. The last time I had worn the dupatta sari was during our wedding so I was feeling special already. In the meantime AS got Chhori ready in her new clothes and we waited for the priest. My mum also made sagun. apungo and halwa for the puja.

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At 8am, the priest arrived and stared drawing mandap for the puja. He began the puja with AS sitting at the mandap and after a while asked me to join as well. Then Chhori joined us later, sitting on my lap and the puja continued.

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The first step was to worship Lord Ganesh and the sukunda and all the gods. He chanted mantras and blessed Chhori’s puja outfit and ornaments. The outfit was made of red silk (Taas) embroidered with golden threads and there were gold ornaments like a chain, earrings, bangles (with gold dragon on the ends) and silver anklets (kalli) to keep the bad omens at bay. Some of the ornaments were from my parents and some from AS parents.

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We then changed Chhori into her new outfit and put the kalli and bracelets on her and the ceremony continued.

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Next it was time to give Chhori the tray which had a book (symbolising learning), jewels (wealth), a pen (wisdom), clay (property), food items (a love for food) as well as a mobile phone (after instruction from priest) symbolising a computer genius 🙂 to Chhori.

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It is believed that the first thing the baby touches determines her future path and career. In our case, Chhori first grabbed the book and then the mobile phone so we are hoping she will like computers like her parents.

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After that, it was time for the big moment, Chhori’s first solid food. Normally in Newari culture, we have Thya Bu (a big plate with rice, eggs, yogurt, wine, fruits, roti, meat, fish, vegetables and much more) as the first meal but as we were here, it was near impossible to follow that tradition so we used Kheer (rice pudding) instead.

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My mum made a special kheer for Chhori with lots of milk boiled longer to make it softer. Everyone fed small portions to Chhori using a sliver bowl and a gold coin. She seemed to like the sweetness and kept asking for more; enjoying her first solid food.

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Then the priest blessed the baby and the puja was over but there was still more to come.

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The next step was to take the baby to a nearby temple, which for us was round a thirty minutes’ drive. We all hopped into the car and went to the temple in time for the aarti ceremony.

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After the aarti, the priest blessed the baby and then, my brother who is the mama (maternal uncle in Nepali) took the baby and went around the temple following tradition.pasni (18)

Chhori was so happy to be out seeing all the lights in the temple.

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Once we returned home, it was time for Sagun. My mum had prepared all the necessary items and I am so grateful that she was here with us. I can’t imagine what we would have done without her.

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First my parents put tika on the foreheads of AS, me and Chhori. Then they gave us clothes, fruits, rotis and other gifts.

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It was followed by Sagun to us and everyone present. This concluded the morning ceremony for the pasni.

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For rest of the day, we had our close friends and family coming over to bless Chhori and to celebrate the day. By the time everyone left that day, it was almost midnight.

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It was great day for us to see our daughter growing up and starting to eat sold food. My parents were really pleased to witness their granddaughter’s big day.

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In the next post I will write about the party we had for Chhori’s pasni celebration.

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Till then take care everyone.

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

8 Comments

Posted in Being Mum, Celebrations, Nepali Culture, Newari Culture, Our daughter

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Jwano ko Jhol (Thyme Seeds Soup)

Posted on June 12, 2015 | 8 comments

As I mentioned in my previous post, Jwano ko Jhol is a traditional Nepali soup which is given to new mums to increase their supply of milk. I wasn’t very sure about it before but I now swear by it.

Jwano ko Jhol (1)

Initially when I started drinking it, I had an over supply of milk so I needed to decrease the amount I drank. Then after a while when I stopped drinking it completely, I could feel the supply of my milk went low as well. So I started drinking it in again but in small amount.

Jwana ko jhol is also believed to have lots of health benefits like helping to heal the wounds, relieve body aches and help with cold and cough. Thyme also has potassium, iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, and selenium for the well-being of our body.

The soup is very easy to make.

Ingredients for 2 cups of soup

  • 2 tea spoon Jwano (Thyme seed)
  • 1/8 teaspoon of turmeric powder
  • 1 tea spoon of fresh ginger garlic paste
  • ½ tea spoon cumin powder
  • ½ teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)
  • Salt as per taste
  • 2 ½ cups water

Method

  • Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add ghee when hot.
  • When ghee is melted, add jwano, turmeric powder, cumin powder, ginger garlic paste and salt and stir them together.

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  • After about a minute once you smell the ginger garlic flavour add water and let it boil for a few minutes.

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  • Jwana ko jhol is now ready to serve
  • Enjoy!

Take care everyone till next post.

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

8 Comments

Posted in My pregnancy, Nepal, Nepali food, Newari Food, Recipe

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Bollywood fundraiser concert in Ashburn, Virginia for Nepal earthquake victims

Posted on May 25, 2015 | 3 comments

First of all a big thank you to Deepa, one of my regular readers, and all the organisers for organizing a fund raiser concert in Ashburn, Virginia for Nepal Earth Quake Victims.

If you are anywhere near Ashburn, VA on 5th June 2015, please go and support the event. It will be a fun night with lots of songs and dances by local artists.

Admission is free but please be generous and donate for a good cause. Rajdhani Mandir will make a one to one match for the first $10,000 raised. All proceeds will go to earthquake victims of Nepal and believe me every penny counts.

Details of the event

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Date: 5th June 2015

Time: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Venue: Clubhouse Lawn at Loudoun Valley

              43100 Barnstead Drive

               Ashburn, VA 20148

Thank you everyone once again.

3 Comments

Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal

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A heartfelt plea from my friend

Posted on May 18, 2015 | 2 comments

As most of you are aware a major earthquake struck eastern Nepal, the second one in two weeks. Over a hundred people were killed and more than 2,500 injured.

AS and I are lucky that all our close relatives survived the quake but not every family was so lucky. Here I am sharing the story the family of my friend’s first cousin. The family lost everything in the earthquake, their house, their business which was their only source of income, and above all their father.

“The earthquake that struck Nepal on 25th April claimed my father’s life. I still regret that I wasn’t home that day. My sisters were able to pull my mother out of the house and all my sisters managed to get out alive but my dad couldn’t.” – Sujan Malla (My friend’s cousin)

I know most of you have already donated to one cause or another to help Nepal but today I am requesting you to donate $5 if not more to this family and help my friend build a house for a family who have lost everything. I know skipping coffee for a day is not a lot to ask for.

I promise I will keep you posted how we go with the fundraising and once the house is built; I will definitely share the good news.

Here are some words from my friend.

My uncle’s family was a normal and simple Nepali family with a father, mother and kids. They were leading a simple joyous life running a family business “Newa Bamboo Kitchen”. Despite the mother’s poor health, the family was happy and always there for each other.

Suddenly the earthquake changed everything. The family lost the father, their only house and their business in one day. Now they are living in a tent with no source of income and an uncertain future.

When I saw the posting about the quake in the social media, I was worried about my uncle as he was already old and sick too. I tried to get in touch with the family but had no luck. After three days, I got in touch with my cousin and the news devastated me. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to lose a family member and to lose the house and the property that generated the only income to sustain the family.

There isn’t much I could do other than being sad and feeling sorry. I had few sleepless nights wondering how they must be bearing the pain. I couldn’t really be at ease and determined to try and raise some fund to give them a little relief from their burden.

So here I am requesting all of you to help this family. I know, you must have donated some way or another but I still request you to kindly spare 5 dollars for this family. Maybe we can cut back on some of the stuff that we don’t need right away. Monsoon is coming to Nepal soon and it is heart wrenching to even imagine how they will survive without help. Government help is slow to arrive and hard to get so we are the only hope they have.

Please click here and donate whatever you can.

I would like to thank you for reading this plea. Please help me share this link to spread the word amongst your friends and family.

Thank you,

Sunanda Dongol

2 Comments

Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal

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